The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has moved the telecommunications industry to consider the development of telecommunication technologies that provide equal access to handicapped phone users. Currently, the deaf and hard of hearing use specific devices, known as TTY devices (teletype) or telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) to communicate across a POTS network (Plain Old Telephone System). These devices consist of a keyboard, display screen, and modem. The modem links to a regular telephone. When the handicapped phone user places a phone call, he types his message into the keyboard, and the device then converts the characters of the message into electrical signals that travel over normal phone lines. When these electrical signals reach another TTY device, they are converted back into letters which appear on a display screen. The message may also be printed on paper.
Typically, a person communicating on a TTY device can only communicate with another individual with another TTY device. As a consequence, the handicapped individual is greatly limited in the number of individuals he or she may contact. Because of limits with existing TTY devices, many of the new advances available to the public are not available to the handicapped.
Phone services have developed wherein operators who have TTY devices receive calls on behalf of the handicapped. For example, a handicapped individual may place a call to the operator, who will then relay a message to a third party that may not have a TTY device. This form of communication, however, reduces the level of privacy available to the handicapped individual and his desired contact.
A need therefore exists for an improved method of communication between the handicapped individual and individual without access to TTY equipment.
The invention comprises a method for linking a user with a TTY device to a third party without such a device through phone network systems. The user of the TTY equipment may send a text message in a format for the TTY equipment, a known TTY format, such as Baudot format. The message is translated electronically using software into a format suitable for the non-TTY device, such as a pager. The text message is then sent to the paging network which routes the translated message to a customer with a pager.
In addition, rather than only sending a single message, a TTY user may also have the option of waiting for the individual with the pager to find a telephone. If the TTY user waits, the pager user may be notified that the customer is waiting for a return phone call. The pager user may then use an ordinary phone and dial a special number, provide a personal identification number (PIN), and then have his phone line associated with his pager number. Following this association, the user of the TTY device may be notified to begin text messaging. The pager user may receive the TTY user""s text message over his pager""s display. The pager user may then use his keypad on his phone or his pager, if the pager is a two-way pager, to type a return text message back to the user of the TTY device. As the pager user enters text using his keypad, he may see his text message on his pager and any return message from the user of the TTY device on his pager display. Other input devices, such as speech recognition devices, may be used to create text messages in this way.
Moreover, the TTY device need not be a traditional piece of equipment. For example, the device could be a computer work station or server accessed remotely. Accordingly, the pager and signal input device, such as the touch-tone pad, may be used to command the work station or server remotely. This invention thus uses existing telecommunication devices to facilitate text messaging between TTY users and individuals without immediate access to TTY equipment.